Not only that, but it was also one of the few countries not to include refugee expenses as part of its official development assistance (ODA) budget.

“Five DAC members--Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom--met the United Nations target in 2017 for an ODA/GNI ratio of at least 0.7%. Having achieved the target in 2016, Germany slipped back in 2017 to join 24 other DAC donors under the threshold,” the report stated.

A DAC rule in place since 1988, allows donor countries to include certain refugee expenses as ODA. Luxembourg, along with Australia and Korea, did not do this, “…but nine countries spent over 10% of their ODA on refugees. Among them, Germany, Greece, Iceland and Italy used over 20% of ODA for in-donor refugee costs.”

According to the OECD report, “Foreign aid from official donors totalled $146.6 billion in 2017, a small decrease of 0.6% from 2016 in real terms as less money was spent on refugees inside donor countries but with more funds flowing to countries most in need of aid, according to preliminary official data collected by the OECD on 9 April 2018”

Taking refugee costs out of the equation, “net ODA was up 1.1% from 2016 in real terms (i.e. correcting for inflation and currency fluctuations). ODA spent by donor countries on hosting refugees fell by 13.6% to $14.2 billion as refugee arrivals, mainly in Europe, decreased. In-donor refugee costs were 9.7% of total net ODA, down from 11% in 2016.”

“It is good to see more money going where it is most needed, but it is still not enough. Too many donors are still far behind the 0.7% target,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, presenting the figures.

“I am encouraged to see a rise in ODA being spent in least-developed countries and I would like to call on DAC members to continue this effort. We should always be aiming to invest ODA for long-term purposes in countries most in need and be cautious in using it for loans to middle-income countries,” said DAC Chair Charlotte Petri Gornitzka.